John Menadue
Publisher and Editor
Callum Foote
Associate Editor
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Category Archives: Economy
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy
Posted in Economy, Politics
2 Comments
The escalating risk to Australia’s vehicle fleet. Australia applies the brakes again and again.
Gas-guzzlers in Europe are quickly becoming a thing of the past – so guess where they’re headed instead.
Posted in Infrastructure
4 Comments
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy
Posted in Economy, Politics
4 Comments
Opening up Australia to international travel – All froth and no bubble!
Since April, a variety of coronavirus travel bubbles involving Australia have been mooted. But will any of them take off?
Posted in Economy
2 Comments
NBN update. Let’s not compound a history of poor policymaking by people who claim to be good economic managers.
In years to come Malcolm Turnbull will be remembered as the communications minister who, under instruction from then prime minister Tony Abbott, ‘demolished’ Labor’s 21st Century National Broadband Network. But another prominent politician had earlier inflicted enduring damage to any … Continue reading
Posted in NBN, Politics
7 Comments
Joel Fitzgibbon and renewable energy in the Hunter.(Renew Economy Nov 17, 2020)
The New South Wales has made a new commitment to transform the now coal-dependent Hunter Region as a hub of new renewable energy and storage projects as part of its broad and ground-breaking plans to transition the state’s grid from … Continue reading
The rise of megaprojects
The era of megaprojects has well and truly arrived. But megaprojects run the risk of megaproblems.
Posted in Economy
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Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy
Posted in Economy, Politics
2 Comments
JobMaker is nowhere near bold enough. Here are four ways to expand it (The Conversation Nov 10, 2020)
The government has targeted its JobMaker Hiring Credit too narrowly.
Posted in Economy
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Uneasy lies the head: Crown casinos is falling
Shakespeare recognised centuries ago that ‘uneasy lies the head that wears a crown’. Certainly, the individual and collective heads of the members of the board of Crown Resorts Ltd should be very very uneasy. Their Crown is falling, almost fallen.
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy
Posted in Economy, Politics
2 Comments
The future of work is coming but it might not be what you think (The Mandarin 9 Oct, 2020)
Visions of the future of work, utopian and dystopian dot our popular culture. Thinkers behind these visions have often taken a Fukuyama-like plunge foreshadowing, if not the end of work, at least a radical re-working of the role work plays … Continue reading
Is Trump the worst economic manager in almost a century?
As he has done with the property business built up by his father, Trump has squandered the economic inheritance from Obama by poor management.
Posted in Economy
3 Comments
Interest rates: why a further cut is not a good idea
Interest rates are already at record lows. Any further cut will not help the economy but will add to the inequality of wealth in this country.
Posted in Economy
2 Comments
Company director is the one job where pay and performance don’t matter (ABC Oct 27, 2020)
For generations, it has been the nation’s most exclusive club. Entry is strictly invitation only. And while acceptance is difficult, once you’re in, you’re in for the long haul.
Posted in Economy, Politics
2 Comments
Productivity – maybe one good aspect of the Morrison-Frydenberg budget
Low interest rates and breaks for new investment will not encourage business expansion – there’s too much uncertainty – but they may lift our productivity.
Posted in Economy
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A special investigation: Naval, builder of Australian submarines, at centre of numerous global corruption scandals
The arms company at the centre of a deadly criminal saga and numerous global corruption scandals, Naval Group, was selected by the Australian government to build our new fleet of submarines – a deal heralded as ‘one of the world’s … Continue reading
Posted in Defence and Security, Economy, Politics
1 Comment
Getting Coherence into the Equity Debate – Part 3
In Parts 1 and 2, I used three desirable attributes (equity, efficiency and simplicity) of a coherent tax and transfer system to assess the 2020-21 personal income tax changes and the lack of a rate increase for JobSeeker recipients. In … Continue reading
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone…..” Like manufacturing!
As part of the post-COVID recovery, the Morrison Government has announced a “package” to revive manufacturing. But why does manufacturing need to be revived?
Posted in Economy
2 Comments
Why Labor should scrap the Stage 3 tax cuts
The Government’s stage 3 tax cuts due to come into operation in 2024-25 should be scrapped. They are too costly and too biased in favour of the highest incomes. Instead, there are other better ways to support economic growth using … Continue reading
Posted in Economy
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Getting Coherence into the Equity Debate – Part 2
In Part 1, I used three desirable attributes (equity, efficiency and simplicity) of a coherent tax and transfer system to assess the 2020-21 personal income tax changes. In Part 2, I examine JobSeeker payments.
Posted in Economy
2 Comments
Exorbitant cost of the Coalition’s renewed interest in manufacturing
Before the budget Scott Morrison announced through Michelle Grattan a $1.5 billion plan to boost manufacturing in six priority areas – resources technology and critical minerals processing, food and beverage, medical products, recycling and clean energy, defence and space. Not … Continue reading
Back to the future: From JobServices Australia to JobActive and beyond – Part 2
The Australian experience with employment service purchasing suggests that a hybrid model would work best. This would include a public provider and online service for those requiring limited employment assistance.
Posted in Economy
3 Comments
Adding complexity, taxes the issue of equity – Part 1
More sensible than the Government’s Stage 3 tax cuts would be the approach put forward by the Henry Tax Review of an explicit and high tax threshold and no means-tested ‘tax offsets’.
A once in a century opportunity missed- A Liveable Income Guarantee
Ignoring for now the failure to promise an increase in Newstart, the general chorus emanating from commentators on the budget has been critical of the omission of serious money for social housing, for an increased childcare subsidy, and for increased … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Politics
2 Comments
Part 1: From CES to Job Network
The best way to assess Australia’s controversial system of contracted employment services is to track where it came from, how it affected services, and how and why successive governments have adjusted it. For, despite a widely expressed view that the … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Politics
4 Comments
Migration in reverse in September 2020
Net international movements in September 2020 were negative 33,270, a reduction on the August 2020 outcome of negative 45,610.
Posted in Economy, Immigration, refugees
1 Comment
The Victorian lockdown is not just about health and lives!
Recently we have had Peter Singer, WHO envoys and Chris Uhlmann seemingly critical of the Covid-19 lockdown in Victoria. However, have they failed to recognise the significance of Victoria not being a country but one of eight states and territories?
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy
Posted in Economy, Public Policy
3 Comments
Superannuation and the Guarantee.
Public debate on superannuation is currently focused primarily on the level of the guarantee. This is a legitimate debate, but the guarantee is not the most important issue for ensuring Australians have adequate and secure retirement incomes.